New cafe firm irons out kinks

By Shardae Smith

Now in its third month of operation, Café University, the college’s food new vendor, continues experiencing difficulties running three cafes to service students, faculty and staff, but hopes to make finishing touches and finalize menu options before the fall semester is complete.

At each of Café University’s three locations—the Wabash Campus Building, 623 S. Wabash Ave.; the 1104 Center, 1104 S. Wabash Ave. and the Alexandroff Campus Center, 600 S. Michigan Ave.—prices are still handwritten on cardboard signs and students are complaining about price inconsistencies of their food options.

As part of the cafe’s contract with the college, the owner and managers agreed to meet with the Student Government Association once a semester to discuss its progress. The first meeting was on Nov. 16.

“So far it’s been a lot of work,” said Dan Weiss, co-owner of Café University. “It’s been hard to run three shops at one time as an independent business. But we’re at the point where a lot of our food issues are being taken care of.”

Some students are still unsatisfied with the costs.

“Overall, I think it’s too high of a price when you can walk across the street to Dunkin’ Donuts and get a bagel and a cup of coffee for three bucks,” said junior fine art major Chelsea Schneider. “Lower the prices because we already pay too high of a price [to attend Columbia].”

Schneider said she also feels the cafe’s menu selection leaves her with limited options to choose from.

But according to Café University’s store manager Micah Perry, the current prices are comparable to industry standards and said he thinks they have stepped up the service in comparison to Plum Café.

“You can’t go into a coffee shop in the city and buy a sandwich for less than $6,” Perry said. “I know you can go to Subway and get something cheaper, maybe a little blander with less interesting ingredients. I feel like we have fair prices for the most part. It’s definitely more expensive than Dunkin’ Donuts, but we’re not trying to be a Dunkin’ Donuts.”

Pizza was introduced to the 1104 Center and Alexandroff Campus Center locations on Nov. 22. Soups and fresh bagels will be added within the coming weeks, in order to give students a more diverse menu, according the managers.

Perry said the cafe’s No. 1 concern right now are the students. Adding pizza to the menu is something he knew could be both fresh and affordable and is hoping to “strike a balance in that arena.”

The company has kept its promise on accepting debit cards and hiring student employees. However, Weiss said hiring students has been difficult because of the limitation to hours students are allowed to work.

“It would be way easier if we could have [a student who] works all day, but we can’t do that,” Weiss said. “The only downsize is the tiny shifts and what happens is there are a lot of no-shows because obviously school comes first.”

Student employee and sophomore audio arts and acoustics major Colin Croom has been working at Café University since the beginning of the semester. He said he didn’t think students expected a coffee-based cafe and thought the service would resemble Plum Café.

Croom knows students complain about the prices being too high, but said the prices need to be high because some of the items are organic.

Junior fine arts major Shayna Cott said she enjoys Café University more than the college’s former dining options.

“I like [the new service] better than Plum Café because they serve better coffee,” Cott said. “I do think they’re overpriced, but in the same margin [Plum café] was. I like the selection, [but] I wish they would get the pastries earlier [in the day].”

As for the handwritten menus, Perry said he doesn’t want to print out a menu until he’s sure what items will be permanent. He said the menus for new food additions should be available soon.

Weiss said it’s not hard for him to make changes within the cafe, but he doesn’t know what the students want. He said once the campus trusts the product things will run smoother.

A member of the SGA suggested the owners place comment boxes at each of the three campus locations to yield student opinion and gain feedback, but the owners said they don’t think the responses would be serious enough.

“My personal cell [phone number] is listed at all the cafes,” Perry said. “I feel if someone has an earnest suggestion, they won’t write in on a card and stuff it in a box. But they will actually seek out someone who will listen to them and take them seriously. I think a comment box just encourages throwaway ideas and not suggestions that are well thought out.”

menu selection leaves her with limited options to choose from.

But according to Café University’s store manager Micah Perry, the current prices are comparable to industry standards. He also said the store has stepped up service in comparison to predecessor Plum Cafe.

“You can’t go into a coffee shop in the city and buy a sandwich for less than $6,” Perry said. “I feel like we have fair prices for the most part.”

Pizza was introduced to the 1104 Center and Alexandroff Campus Center locations on Nov. 22. Soups and fresh bagels will be added within the coming weeks to give students a more diverse menu, according the managers.

Perry said the cafe’s No. 1 concern right now is the students. Adding pizza to the menu is something he knew could be fresh and affordable.

The company has kept its promise on accepting debit cards and hiring student employees. However, Weiss said hiring students has been difficult because of the limitation on hours students are allowed to work.

“It would be way easier if we could have [a student who] works all day, but we can’t do that,” Weiss said. “There are a lot of no-shows because obviously school

comes first.”

Student employee and sophomore audio, arts and acoustics major Colin Croom has been working at Café University since the beginning of the semester.

He said he knows students complain about the items being expensive, but the prices are high because some of the options are organic.

Junior fine art major Shayna Cott said she enjoys Café University more than the college’s former dining options.

“I like [the new service] better than Plum Cafe because they serve better coffee,” Cott said. “I do think they’re overpriced, but in the same margin [Plum Cafe] was.

As for the handwritten menus, Perry said he doesn’t want to print out a menu until he’s sure what items will be permanent. He said the menus should be available soon.

Weiss said it’s not hard for him to make changes within the cafe, but he doesn’t know what the students want. He said once the campus trusts the product, things will run smoother.

A member of the SGA suggested the owners place comment boxes at each of the three campus locations to yield student opinion and gain feedback, but the owners said they don’t think the responses would be serious enough.

“My personal cell [phone number] is listed at all the cafes,” Perry said. “I feel if someone has an earnest suggestion, they won’t write in on a card. I think a comment box encourages throwaway ideas.”